October 16
Angela Brigid Lansbury's Birthday,

Angela Lansbury emigrated to the United States from England at the the beginning of as World War II. With her strong classical British acting training, she was soon contracted by MGM and received an Oscar nomination for her two films films, Gaslight (1944) and The Picture of Dorian Gray (1946). She later had her most famous film role as the mother-from-hell working with the Communists to overthrow the US government in The Manchurian Candidate (1962) for which she received another Oscar nomination, and had the memorable line "I keep telling you not to think! You're very, very good at a great many things, but thinking, hon', just simply isn't one of them."

However, most everyone associates Angela with her role as the mystery writer Jessica Fletcher in the TV series Murder, She Wrote which ran from 1984 to 1986 at a time when older actresses found it almost impossible to get a starring role in television or film.

On Broadway, Angela ruled the stage for decades and won five Tony Awards, two of which were for iconic roles, first as vivacious multi-married Mame Dennis, whose famous motto is "Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death" in the musical Mame (1966), The second was as Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd (1979) the love-struck baker who gained fame for making pies from the flesh of those murdered by her upstairs paramour, the demon barber of Fleet Street. The story of Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett was based on two of London's most notorious criminals. Sweeney was sentenced to death by the hangman, but Mrs. Lovett was found poisoned in her cell at Newgate prison.

So what would be more appropriate of a celebratory dish for Angela's birthday than Mrs. Lovett's priest pie that was such a hit in Sweeny Todd and watching a DVD of the original Broadway Musical?

Here are the delicious lyrics that describe this delicacy.

Mrs. Lovett Here we are, now! Hot out of the oven!

Mr. Todd What is that?

Mrs. Lovett It's priest. Have a little priest.

Mr. Todd Is it really good?

Mrs. Lovett Sir, it's too good, at least!
Then again, they don't commit sins of the flesh,
So it's pretty fresh.

Mr. Todd Awful lot of fat.

Mrs. Lovett Only where it sat.

Mr. Todd Haven't you got poet, or something like that?

Mrs. Lovett No, y'see, the trouble with poet is
'Ow do you know it's deceased?
Try the priest!

Mrs. Lovett's Priest Pie

Ingredients

1&1/4 lb ground priest*
2 potatoes, diced
2 carrots diced
i parsnip diced
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup beef broth
1 TB thyme

3 TB fresh parsley, chopped
2 TB chopped garlic
1 TB salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 cup flour
Pastry (enough for double-crust pie)
1½ quarts oil

Instructions

1. Brown meat, add diced potatoes carrots, parsnip, onion, herbs, garlic, salt, and pepper, cover and
simmer 45 minutes.
2 Heat oil in a large pan to 375º F.
3 Add flour and stir until mixture thickens.
3. Roll out pastry by the handful, spoon half-full with meat filling, brush edges with egg yolk, fold pastry
over and crimp edges.
4, Fry in hot oil for 1 minute each, until dark golden brown

Makes 4 meat pies

* Because priest is becoming an an endangered species, you can substitute ground pork which will have
the approximate fat content as priest.